Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Quick release steering wheels and plug covers

I watched the installation video from the supplier’s site. Pity that it is only secured by two screws at the front end, where there happen to be a couple of convenient holes. The rear end is free to bend and you have to be careful to keep the plug leads well down into the well to avoid the cover being banana’d back up at the coil end. The material is not that rigid.
Although the plate is nicely made to fit, there is absolutely no seal between it and the rocker cover. As water always finds a way, I look at this as a nice cosmetic addition but unlikely to be as good as a full cover.
Incidentally, it is well documented that rusty sparking plugs are common on Duratec engines whether in a Morgan, Mondeo or Focus.
Although water ingress is highly suspect, I also point the finger at condensation forming in those deep pockets.

I ponder as to why the recently made 4 cylinder Ford engined cars suffer so much from water ingress causing spark plug/well corrosion, particularly front plug area. Engine heat would surely keep this at bay. Can only assume cars are left outside with cold engines in the rain or washed and put away without starting engine. Absolutely no signs of corrosion or water ingress found when changing plugs on my V6 Roadster with similar coil pack seals. The heads do sit at 30° from vertical though

I did add silicone grease to lips of coil pack seals when replacing though.

Interesting Richard, re the V6.
Mine lives in the garage which is integral to the house, so nice and dry. Always give it a good run after a wash and if away in bad weather, use a John Taylor cover. Thats not to say it never gets a wetting when on the move though and it is used all year round.
Despite my suspicion of condensation, it still beats me as to why it’s always the front plug that gets hit the worst! A real mystery.
As well as greasing the plug lead seals, I also very lightly smear the metal plug body (NOT the threads or taper) with some ceretec grease. (oily rag application) That seems to have helped. The important thing of course, is to remove plugs each year to stop seizure. (That is one thing you can’t always be sure is done unless you DIY.

Couldn't agree more Doug, I consider it a splash guard, it will deflect some of the worst of the water from the area of the plugs. I don't think it will take too much to seal the edges a bit better with a raised rubber edge seal trapping any water on top of the plate to be wiped away say after washing the car, but for £28.5 delivered compared to what is charged for a Morgan cover by dealers which doesn't always fit so well from some postings I've read, its a bargain for what it is. My Plus 4 plugs when removed not only had heavy rust, but actually had brown water marks on the white isolator body so has been well immersed in water for some time. On my 70th one spark plug was so rusted in it snapped off creating a real problem to remove the rest from the head. So if it deflects say 60 to 70 % of the water from the area I'll be more than happy for the money.

I think it's condensation caused by the rubber seals around the plugs. i have fitted the carbon cover (with some difficulty) to my +4 and it will be interesting to see if the plugs rust now.

Let us know how it goes, l'd be interested to hear what results you experience. I've certainly seen water on top of the engine following washing the car.

Will do, incidentally it is rare for me to wash the car with water, unless it is really filthy I use Williams waterless wash.